This presentation, entitled "22 in 22 (minutes)," covers a broad spectrum of trends related to marketing (including digital marketing), branding, and social media that are relevant to organizations in 2018. Many of these spring from a convergence of macro forces, such as carryover from the global recession, political polarization, and the erosion of trust in institutions in the United States specifically. Presentation given on March 16, 2018 at the Intersect Conference in Salt Lake City.

1. A Blitz of Marketing Trends in 2018
Scott Cowley
in
@scottcowley

2. Google Searches for “[Current year] marketing trends”
1. People want CliffsNotes
for Strategy

3. 2. Consumer Trust
in Flux
@scottcowley

4. U.S. DROP IN TRUST TOWARD:
GOVERNMENT
MEDIA
BUSINESS
Source: 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer
-37
MARKETING: WHO DO PEOPLE TRUST?

5. 3. “Voices of Authority”

6. 1. TECHNICAL EXPERTS – 63% (+3)
2. ACADEMIC EXPERTS – 61% (+1)
3. A PERSON LIKE YOURSELF – 54% (-6)*
.
.
10. JOURNALIST – 39% (+12)
% WHO RATE EACH AS “VERY CREDIBLE”
*Think of the impact on reviews, social media sharing, influencer marketing

7. 4. Desire to feel Human
and in Control

8. -11U.S. DROP IN TRUST TOWARD
MEDIA PLATFORMS (SOCIAL MEDIA)
Lower reach, fewer shares
Own your audience and your content

9. POLARIZATION, CYNICISM, AND OUTRAGE IS
THE NORM
SUCCESS CONFLICT
SEARCH FOR TRUTH AND VALUE ALIGNMENT

10. SCREENS ARE THE ENEMY
Source

11. 5. Multi-sensory
Experiences Feel Real

12. A BRAND EXPERIENCE YOU CAN TOUCH

13. SONIC BRANDING IS STORYTELLING
Sonic Branding: Coca Cola Video
Mercedes Petronas F1

14. YOU CAN’T CREATE GREAT MULTI-SENSORY
EXPERIENCES WITH UNISENSORY DATA
Source Video
Dolby

15. LIVE VIDEO > VIDEO > IMAGE > TEXT
6. THE “REALEST” REAL
NYTimes calls this the “Post-Text Future”
Source

16. 7. What is “Live”
Content?

17. #LATERGRAM OR
#NOWGRAM?
HOW DO YOU ACTIVATE MY SENSE OF TIME?

18. 31% OF MARKETERS
TRIED LIVE VIDEO IN 2017
WE ALSO HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT “FAKE LIVE” VIDEO
Source

19. 8. Online Video is
the New TV

20. TV VIEWERS MOVING TOWARD ONLINE &
SUBSCRIPTION CONTENT
Source

21. MASSIVE INVESTMENTS IN PROGRAMMING
Source

22. 9. Stories are the Story

23. 300 MILLION
DAILY ACTIVE USERS OF INSTAGRAM STORIES
68% OF BRANDS PLAN TO CREATE MORE “STORIES” CONTENT
IN 2018
Source

24. WHY?
PEOPLE WANT THE ((HOT MESS))

25. EXPAND THE INFLUENCE OF YOUR STORIES
Fastory for embedding story content (fastory.io)
Source
Drive traffic to related content

26. 10. Brand Voice Gets
Literal

27. 56.3 MILLION
SMART SPEAKERS
SHIPPING IN 2018
Source: Canalys

28. 86%
17%
of brands have
“visual brand guidelines”
have
“audio brand guidelines”
Source: WARC

29. A SCENE WE CRAVE
HOW DO WE AVOID A FUTURE OF ADS, NOTIFICATIONS,
PLATFORM LOCK-IN, INVASIVE DATA COLLECTION, AND LACK OF CONTROL?

30. 11. Convenience is King

31. CONVENIENCE IS THE NEW PRICE

32. PROGRESSIVE WEB APPS
Source
MASSIVE SUCCESS VS. NATIVE APPS & MOBILE SITES

33. AMP FOR EMAIL WILL BRING WEBSITE
FUNCTIONALITY TO THE INBOX
IF TECH AND MONEY WEREN’T AN ISSUE, WHAT WOULD
YOU MAKE MORE CONVENIENT FOR YOUR AUDIENCE?

34. 12. Brands and Ad Drama

35. AD FRAUD
COMMUNITY
MANIPULATION
MEASUREMENT
RELIABILITY
CONSUMER
ANNOYANCE
51%of advertisers feel a crisis of
trust with ad platforms
Source: WARC
PROGRAMMATIC
BRAND THREATS

36. AD BLOCKING HAS STABILIZED AT 12-15%
Source
Source
ANTI-AD BLOCKING IS AT 38%

37. COALITION FOR BETTER ADS STANDARDS
Source
THE MOVE TO CONSUMER-SUPPORTED MEDIA IS REAL

38. 13. Influencer Marketing
Matures

39. Source
SATURATION
INFLUENCERS MOVING INTO CONSULTING AND PRODUCTIZATION
(LESS LIKELY TO WANT TO SHARE BRANDED POSTS)
BETTER TECH TO IDENTIFY FIT AND FAKES
SENSITIVITY TO BRAND RISK
GREATER CONSUMER SKEPTICISM

40. 14. Personalization is
Everybody’s Job

41. 15. Pay Attention to
the Rest of the World

42. 16. Brands With A
Purpose

43. 300%
Source
INCREASE IN PURPOSE-DRIVEN
ADS BY TOP BRANDS IN THE
LAST 5 YEARS

44. 17. EVERYONE’S AN UNDERDOG
INCREASING DEMAND FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THESE STORIES

45. #ICMKTG
(What Students at 5 Colleges Think Are
Positive Marketing Trends Today)
Read Some and Share Your Own
@scottcowley

46. 18. Bantering Brands

47. RESPONSES WITH PERSONALITY &
RELATABLE GIFS
Source

48. 19. Product-Related
Memes

49. 20. Staged, But “Real”
CVS

50. 21. The Greynaissance
Source

51. 22. These Potato Chip Bags
@scottcowley

52. Scott Cowley
scott.cowley@wmich.edu
@scottcowley slideshare.net/scottcowley